Leavell Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 39,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 81.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 117,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,199,000 after purchasing an additional 52,847 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 87.7% during the 1st quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 4,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $93.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $60.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $86.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.97.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 62.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research raised Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. This represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra Energy

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.